Schleich Plots Major Retail Expansion with Flagship Stores, Pop-ups & Partnerships with Toys 'R' Us, FAO Schwarz

Schleich is going big at retail in the U.S. this holiday season.

The popular German brand of figurines and play sets is following the opening of more than 20 flagship retail shops with four holiday-themed pop-up stores, a new e-commerce platform, and partnerships with Toys “R” Us and FAO Schwarz.

At the FAO Schwarz flagship store in New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza, families will find an immersive new presentation (pictured top) featuring a giant Schleich tiger and a mixed-reality digital rock wall that brings the company’s Eldrador Creatures franchise to life.

Later this month, visitors to the new Toys “R” Us Adventure locations in Chicago and Atlanta will find Schleich as one of three featured brands that will be brought to life as part of the experience plotted by Tru Kids Brands and Candytopia. Kids will be able to explore a full Schleich jungle where they will be able to ride in a kid-sized Jungle Explorer vehicle and escape from the jaws of a T. rex.

Schleich Toy Department at Tom’s Toys, Beverly Hills, California

“As the parents of any Schleich-loving child can tell you, the real gift of our highly realistic toy figurines and playsets is how they cause children to become lost in the expansiveness of imaginative play,” says Annie Laurie Zomermaand, Schleich USA’s chief commercial officer. “These new experiential retail initiatives and our new e-commerce platform help mimic that sense of wonder and magic in the retail environment, and bring the Schleich brand to life for customers.”

Schleich holiday pop-up shops will open soon at Nashville’s Opry Mills; Roosevelt Field Mall, Garden City, New York; Stonebriar Centre, Frisco, Texas; and Concord Mills, Concord, North Carolina. Families visiting the holiday pop-ups will be able to make shopping lists that can be saved to Schleich’s new e-commerce site, which will launch in November with a full range of products across six themes: Horse Club, Wild Life, Farm World, Bayala, Dinosaurs, and Eldrador Creatures.

Schleich’s biggest Horse Club play set ever — the Large Horse Stable with House and Stable — is featured in the Toy Insider‘s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

Schleich Plots Major Retail Expansion with Flagship Stores, Pop-ups & Partnerships with Toys ‘R’ Us, FAO Schwarz

About the author

James Zahn